A number of states have tried to make redistricting less partisan by taking the job away from state legislators and giving it to independent commissions. The process is different, but the politics often look the same.
TODAY'S TAKE: North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue, a Democrat, announced she won't run for re-election this year. Some say that decision might actually make Democrats more likely to hold onto the office.
MANAGEMENT BEAT: As Indiana's controversial labor bill heads toward final passage, Republicans and Democrats both think the issue will play to their electoral advantage.
PREVIOUS STORIES
CALIFORNIA COUNTY JAILS COPING WITH BIGGER INMATE POPULATION — Governor Jerry Brown ordered that California prisons deal with overcapacity by sentencing new inmates to county facilities. The counties are complying, but they are under a great deal of stress.
IN KANSAS, GOVERNOR SAM BROWNBACK DRIVES A RIGHTWARD SHIFT — TOPEKA, Kansas — Republican Sam Brownback is pushing what may be the boldest agenda of any governor this year. In the process, he is setting up a showdown with moderates in his own party.
STATE SPECIAL EDUCATION RATES VARY WIDELY — Federal education data show that states differ widely in how many students they designate for special education. Those differences could have a financial impact for some states in the face of possible cuts to federal aid.
ME: Same-sex marriage supporters say minds have been changed, seek new referendum
Lucie Bauer has changed quite a few minds about same-sex marriage over the more than 20 years she and her partner have lived in midcoast Maine, the 71-year-old said Thursday at a press conference to announce that petitions to put a referendum on the ballot in November would be submitted to the secretary of state. Bangor Daily News
NC: Perdue's surprise move opens the N.C. governor's race
Facing steep odds and a nasty campaign as one of the nation's most endangered Democrats, Gov. Bev Perdue announced Thursday she is abandoning her re-election bid. The Charlotte Observer
US: Obama college aid proposal puts a focus on affordability
President Obama is proposing a financial aid overhaul that for the first time would tie colleges' eligibility for campus-based aid programs to the institutions' success in improving affordability and value for students, administration officials said. The New York Times
VA: Virginia to transform system of caring for developmentally disabled
RICHMOND — Virginia will close all but one of its large institutions for the developmentally disabled and move thousands of people into their own homes, their family's homes or group homes as part of a 10-year, $2.1 billion settlement announced Thursday with the U.S. Justice Department. The Washington Post
FL: Florida tourism funding untouched amid budget cuts
While executives at Florida hospitals are reeling from $2 billion in proposed spending cuts, local tourism officials couldn't be happier with the reception they are receiving in Tallahassee. Tampa Bay Times
NM: NM immigrant driver's license debate intensifies
Republican Gov. Susana Martinez and her allies face a tough first test in the Legislature over their proposal to stop New Mexico from granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. Santa Fe New Mexican
LA: Budget deficit projected
The $895 million shortfall projected for the upcoming state spending year stems partly from the use of more than $300 million in one-time money to balance the current year's $25 billion state operating budget. The Advocate (Baton Rouge)
MD: Realtors bash O'Malley's mortgage deduction idea
Maryland real estate agents expressed alarm Wednesday at Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposal to cap state income tax deductions for people who make more than $100,000, a change that would have a big impact on mortgage interest deductions. The Capital (Annapolis)
AZ: In Airport run-in, Democrats see help for Obama among Hispanics
AURORA, Colo. — Democrats see the chance that President Obama's heated exchange with Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona on the airport tarmac in Phoenix could help him with the Hispanic voters he came West to court this week. The New York Times
MS: A quality of mercy in Haley Barbour's pardons
Haley Barbour, who once toyed with running for president, kicked up a Katrina-like political storm this month as he departed the governor's mansion in Mississippi. In an act of unexpected mercy, he pardoned more than 200 people, some of them convicted for murder and other violent crimes. The Christian Science Monitor
VA: Robert McDonnell's empty promises on roads funds
RICK SNYDER, the Republican governor of Michigan, wants a major tax increase — $1.4 billion a year — to expand and maintain his state's ailing transportation system. Terry Branstad, the Republican governor of Iowa, is eyeing a gasoline-tax hike for his state's roads. But in Virginia, where the gas tax, the major source of state transportation funding, is among the nation's lowest — less than those in Michigan and Iowa — another Republican governor, Robert F. McDonnell, is standing pat. Too bad he lacks the political courage of his Midwestern counterparts.
The Washington Post
NJ: N.J. must boost DNA collection to solve crime, protect innocent
A serial killer of women in Los Angeles, dubbed "The Grim Sleeper," had eluded police for decades. All they had was his DNA. It didn't match anybody in the statewide database, but a search did turn up a convict whose DNA indicated he was a close relative. After analyzing the family tree, detectives zeroed in on his father as a likely suspect. The Star-Ledger (Newark)
NV: Setting a course for higher ed
Recent events in Nevada suggest that higher education is on the minds of policymakers and business and community leaders. Now is exactly the right time to think big-picture about Nevada higher education. Las Vegas Sun
TX: Save, don't cull, public records
The way government handles the people's business is fairly well-documented in reports, minutes, audits, transcripts, recordings, laws, ordinances, orders and resolutions. The Dallas Morning News
UT: State of State
On Tuesday night, President Obama kicked off his re-election campaign with one of the most baldly political State of the Union speeches in memory. On Wednesday night, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert emulated the president with his State of the State address. The Salt Lake Tribune
MT: Abolish the death penalty
On a recent Tuesday night a number of residents in the Bitterroot Valley met to discuss abolition of the death penalty in Montana. When the Montana legislature meets again, there will be another effort to change our state's laws to a less expensive and more compassionate policy.
Missoulian
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